North Wales man jailed for 17 years over role in £31.6m drugs conspiracy

Haul of high purity cocaine discovered in Sports Direct bags

- By ADAM EVERETT and STEVE BAGNALL

A NORTH Wales dad's involvement in a £31.6m drugs plot was revealed by the contents of Sports Direct bags.

Raymond Kinnear, and his son Nathan, were jailed for nearly 25 years, after police discovered 45kg of cocaine inside Raymond Kinnear's Audi.

He had left the vehicle parked inside an industrial unit at a business park, a court heard. The 63-year-old enlisted his son, estate agent Nathan Kinnear, to provide 'back-up' during his criminal activities, as well as booking hotel rooms and providing Sports Direct and Aldi bags for life, which were used to store the illicit substances.

Their arrests led to the dad being identified as the EncroChat user 'ViperBat' and a Rolex watch being seized from his caravan.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Merseyside Police attended Liver Industrial Estate in Aintree at around 10.45pm on June 18 last year and searched a unit which 'appeared to be under the control of a bathroom company.' However, it had in fact been subleased by Raymond Kinnear on April 28, 2024.

His Audi A4 was found parked at the premises, with 70 vacuum sealed blocks of high purity cocaine, weighing 45kg and worth more than £1.5million, being located in several Sports Direct bags inside the vehicle.

Nicola Daley, prosecuting, described how investigations established he had been in contact with his son throughout that afternoon before the dad drove to Merseyside from his caravan at Abbey Farm in Llangollen, Denbighshire. Nathan Kinnear and his girlfriend had meanwhile visited a Sports Direct store to buy eight bags which were 'consistent with' those used to hold the drugs.